What's the Difference Between Whiskey and Whisky?

No matter how you spell it, whiskey is delicious. But is there an actual difference between a glass of whiskey and a glass of whisky? And will you care once you've started drinking either? You won't, but it was on our minds -- and to help answer this question, we spoke to whiskey expert Charles Cowdery, author of Bourbon, Strange: Surprising Stories of American Whiskey.

What's the difference between whiskey and whisky?

"'Whiskey' and ‘whisky’ are alternate spellings. There are traditions, not always followed, associating one or the other spelling with a particular whiskey-making culture (e.g., ‘whisky’ with Scotland), but there is no difference in meaning despite many misinformed articles to the contrary."

Why are the two words spelled differently?

"There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of English words that are spelled differently in Great Britain and the United States. Canada mostly follows the UK, sometimes they follow us, and sometimes they do their own thing. Color/colour, tire/tyre, labor/labour, flavor/flavour, center/centre, maneuver/manoeuvre, etc. For some reason, people fantasize about whiskey/whisky (Editor's note: including us!), even though it’s exactly the same as tire/tyre."

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